1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to surface mounted electrical raceways of the type having a raceway base adapted to receive a cover held to said raceway base by the opposed raceway base sidewalls, and having divider clips received in the raceway base for supporting dividing elements between the opposed sidewalls of the base. The raceway base elements or components are held in a similar relationship with one another by couplers that do not interfere with the dividing elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Raceways are protective conduits for containing varied types of wire and cable, comprising an elongated channel shaped raceway base section, and a raceway cover through which penetrate electrical receptacles, female phone jacks, and the like. The raceway base incorporates a rear wall, two opposing sidewalls, and any number of retaining means by which the raceway cover may snap onto or otherwise attach. Divided electrical raceways are those having multiple wireways physically separated from one another within a single raceway base by a dividing element, and are known in the art. They are widely used, and the need has arisen for more efficient and economical raceway construction that facilitates installation of the dividing elements and the divider clips that support said dividing element, as well as raceway couplings that connect various raceway base sections to one another. The need for raceways incorporating at least two wireways is expected to grow to accommodate various configurations of power, cable and optical carrier lines throughout a building""s interior.
Divided raceways typically employ a substantially flat dividing element that parallels the raceway base sidewalls. The dividing element is supported within a raceway base by divider clips. The dividing element installs over the divider clips and is retained by a locking tab mechanism. Divider clips typically require a multi-step fabrication process whereby rolled steel is fed into a 4-slide machine, the steel is formed, multiple sections of the interior portion is stamped, cut, or bent as desired, and the formed steel is sliced into individual components. Prior art divider clips suffer from two deficiencies. First, they require fairly thick steel to support the dividing element, and thus waste material and impose undue wear on the 4-slide machine. Second, they require tools to install within a raceway, thus making installation more labor intensive.
Pairs of raceway base sections, whether divided or not, are joined by couplers that secure raceway sections together in an end to end relationship. Prior art couplers typically span the entire rear wall of a raceway base. They are partly inserted into a first raceway base section, and a second raceway base section is subsequently slid into place adjacent to the first over an extending portion of the coupler. Prior art couplers typically require four screws, one each near the top and bottom of each raceway base section being joined. The primary disadvantage is that these couplers would twist when the screws were tightened, causing the raceway cover to bow. Since they are slid into the open ends of raceway sections, they also require that multiple raceway sections be removed in order to replace a single damaged raceway section. Even during initial installation, the prior art raceway couplings create difficulties in that raceway base sections often do not properly align due to sidewall toe-in. Toe-in results from the roll forming manufacturing process, causing raceway ends that do not precisely match. Prior art couplings often do not readily slide onto both raceway sections due to this toe-in, and must be manually manipulated to fit, further increasing the installation labor.
The present invention overcomes the above shortfalls. First, the divider clip of the present invention may be manufactured without an initial cutout step, and from much thinner metal stock. Second, the present invention employs divider clips that do not include a locking tab mechanism, nor does the disclosed divider clip require that it be installed underneath the dividing element. Thus divided raceways of the present invention are easily reconfigured and upgraded after initial assembly. The coupler of the present invention precludes bowing of the raceway, twisting of the dividing element, and separation of the raceway cover. The coupler of the present invention is easily replaceable within a divided raceway, does not require removal of the dividing element, and allows a single damaged raceway section to be replaced without removing adjacent sections. Finally, the coupler of the present invention overcomes the toe-in match up difficulties since its design tends to cause adjacent sidewalls to align as the coupler is tightened.
The foregoing features are especially advantageous when provided in a two-piece metal raceway system of the type sold by the assignee herein under the WIREMOLD 4000 series steel raceway product line. Such raceway base sections are preferably joined end-to-end to provide a secure structure that is preferably grounded to avoid transient or fault currents that can be induced from the wires and electrical cables carried by the raceway system.
In accordance with the present invention, several raceway base sections are joined end to end by a unique coupling that is adapted to fit along the sidewall and in the corner between the rear wall and sidewall of each raceway base section to be clamped in place.
In addition to coupling the raceway base sections together, the present invention provides a unique support for dividing elements provided between these opposed sidewalls so that the dividing elements define separate wireways for accommodating discrete types of wiring in a single raceway base.
The dividing element is held in place by spaced divider clips which support the dividing elements, and each clip is provided with end portions that are constructed and arranged to cooperate with the marginal edges of the base sidewalls for this purpose.
Each divider clip preferably includes an intermediate portion of a flattened U-shape. More particularly, this xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shape is rearwardly open to facilitate the divider clips to be pre-assembled in spaced relationship on the dividing element so that the entire assembly can be conveniently snapped into place by an installer.